Daybreak in Alabama
When I get to be a composer
I’m gonna write me some music about
Daybreak in Alabama
And I’m gonna put the purtiest songs in it
Rising out of the ground like a swamp mist
And falling out of heaven like soft dew.
I’m gonna put some tall tall trees in it
And the scent of pine needles
And the smell of red clay after rain
And long red necks
And poppy colored faces
And big brown arms
And the field daisy eyes
Of black and white black white black people
And I’m gonna put white hands
And black hands and brown and yellow hands
And red clay earth hands in it
Touching everybody with kind fingers
And touching each other natural as dew
In that dawn of music when I
Get to be a composer
And write about daybreak
In Alabama.
Langston Hughes
For homework this weekend, we have to read the poem above and complete an unseen poetry practice based on the ideas in it . We also all have to write a comment below, it could be analysis, opinion, question or comment.
Miss Ryan's GCSE English & Media 
He is quite abitious , and wants to achieve something within music , he has used quite alot of description and comparison.
very ambitious, i think he is a child, an intelligent one but still a child, uses the list of ‘and’ repeatedly ok that me done 🙂
OK guys, good so far. Let me give you some extra questions to help you thinking with more focus. How does Langston Hughes appeal to the senses? What is the effect of the lack of punctuation?
Who is going to tackle these questions?
The wide use of enjambement stimulates excitement as though a child (as Gregg has mentioned) and their imagination running wild. This is further supported by the constant use of the connective ‘And’ at the start of many lines. It also shows that the author is a little carried away in his imagination. The fact that there are only two full stops split the poem into two parts. The full stop which as at the end implies that he is now content that he has dreamed it all and going to fullfil it.
Hughes appeals to the senses by using the human senses. He repreesents this through the use of similies and metapahors, ‘scent of pine needles’ ‘Touching each other natural as dew’ and ‘dawn of music’. By using these senses of feel, hear and smell we are able to empathise with the poet and be apart of his imagination. Also, the excellent descriptive similies help us to enhance our imagination and create a vivid imagery of the environment- of the people being equal, free and living on one land. The use of different colours shows the different races of people that live in Alabama, ‘red’ may refer to native Americans, ‘black’ may refer to black people and evidently ‘white’ to white people. The use of ‘field’, ‘heaven and ‘everybody’ suggests freedom and equality of people.
the lack of punctuation confirms my idea of it maybe being a child and could also mean how excited the child is thats why there is the list of ‘ands’ there you go HAPPY NOW
I was happy then and I’m happy now thank you! We need more people to get in on this thread though… Come on EN4!
The lack of punctuation really highlights how excited he is about this song, and you can see by the ‘And’s (like gregg said) that he his flowing with ideas, and that there’s no time for punctuation.
Also there are only 2 fullstops…Before the first one he is talking about what he’s going to do. Before the second one, he’s making a list of what it will involve.
He uses quite a lot of natural imagery and the 5 senses like ‘And the scent of pine needles’ which makes it seem calm and relaxed 🙂
He uses american ideolect to back up the fact it’s in Alabama as he says “putiest” and “gonna”. The lack of punctuation makes the poem flow better and blend together, this could link with how he wants different races to mix. The full stops could be the barriers in his music or the barriers between the people. The senses help the reader visualise and imagine how the music would sound.
With the help of ”I’m gonna put sum..” Suggests that he feels like a creater, more god like, this may also show that he is creating his own world of music out there. Moreover this poem also has some strong imagery”poppy coloured faces” this makes the reader imagine and makes the poem come live. This also links in with the fact that the overall concept of the poem is quite imaginative and creative. The lack of punctuation supports the idea that his ideas are neverending. The continious use of ”And” shows that he is quite desperate for his ambitions to come true. The repetition of ”tall tall” reveals his excitement, which supports the idea that he is quite childlike. Nevertheless, the words”black and white black white black people”
shows that his ideas are multicultural as he wants his creation to be of all kinds.
Lastly, the poem’s ideas relates to nature which shows that his ambitions are quite clean and pure just as the earth’s nature.
Wow! Some of the responses added today have blown me out of the water! Excellent and insightful commentary, written in appropriate exam style!
How about answering one of these:
What is your favourite line and why?
Langston Hughes was an African American poet in the early 20th century, how does this effect your understanding? (Shruti, Asma and Dixita were already able to see this)
Does he really want to be a music composer, or is it a metaphor for something else?
Keep it coming guys!
My favourite line is ‘falling out of heaven like soft dew’ because it represents innoncence of that of a child. Also, through the biblical reference to ‘heaven’, it represents purity within the child (dew is pure) and that the music is a gift from God. ‘soft dew’ may have reference to the melody of a composition of music as melodies are soft and fluent. This suggests that people should flow and bind together inspite of being different races- like different musical notes. I am very astounded by the amount of thought that Hughes has put in one line(which is why it is my favourite).Already I get the impression of music playing and the effect on readers is that they are able to flow with the poem. This is further supported by the lack of punctuation which represents fluency like a flowing song or piece of music. Here we are able to see that the structure helps the poem to flow and relate to the contextual part of the poem.
Could the poem be a metaphor for freedom and equality as he probably would have been a slave. Therefore, when he talks about the senses by saying “smell…” and “scent…”, he could mean he would be able to use his own senses and initiative when he’s free, as there wouldn’t be anyone holding him back. This shows he would have power.This links with the fact he talks about different skin colours.
“Touching everybody with kind fingers” is a line which shows us that this child holds such innocence as he (or she) wants to include everybody in their music. This is refelctive of the early C20th as at the time there was a lot of racial confusment and people, espcially black people had trouble being accepted, socially, in America. The childs ambition to be a composer could also be refecltive of the early 20th century when the great depression hit in the 30’s, when a lot of blues music was produced. However this poem has quite an upbeat and postive outlook, oppoosite to the feeling of depression at the time. Therefore it could be refelcting again the childs neivety of the time, or their sheer postivity of a child, in a time when there wasn’t much.
Impressive work and thinking. Great idea?
Ms Hindocha
I think the poem may be about getting justice, the feel that the world should hold ” white hands and black hand and brown and yellow hands”,suggesting the fact he wants everyone to have equal opportunity/rights.
The poem also relates to being a composer,which may show his feelings, however going back to the title “daybreak in Alabama” may realise the idea of how he used to live as a child, which links in with his list of what his ganna include in his music about his “Daybreak In Alabama.
It seems the poem wants to be diverse by mixing “Of black and white black white black people, And I’m gonna put white hands, and black hands and brown and yellow hands, and red clay earth hands in it.” This shows the cultural backgrounds in the poem as he has mixed them all in to one song to show diversity. Furthermore he adds a list that shows he wants to fit a lot of ideas or emotions in one song.
At first look it seemed like a story, however judging by the vocabulary and constant use of ‘and’ & ‘gonna’ definitely shows the author writing from a childs perspective. Persoonally i feel Langston Hughes is portraying the feelings of a child who wishes to have freedom, equality and justice when growing up, a world that everone dreams to live in.
The child seems extremely innocent as he refers to ‘heaven’ making us readers sympathise with him.
I personally think this particular posting , “Unseen Poetry Practice – Langston Hughes | Miss Ryan’s GCSE English”, truly entertaining and also the post was in fact a fantastic read. Thank you,Keesha